Friday, March 20, 2015

To my surprise,
many years ago I was accepted into the doctoral program in the English
department. I am what is called a non-traditional student. This means that I
have a couple of gap years between undergraduate and graduate school. Also, it
means that I am a lot older than many of my classmates.When I first
started, my biggest concern was that I hadn't set foot in a classroom as a
student in a long time. Would my experience out of school be an asset or a liability?
Would I be able to balance school and work, much less school and my
responsibilities as a father?Once I overcame
this initial discomfort, I had the idea that I would double my workload and
finish my doctorate in five years. And why not? All I had to do was:

Along the way I
realized that it might be helpful to earn some money so that I could pay some
bills, put dinner on the table, put clothes on my daughters’ backs, and start
working off my school loans. This meant that I had to work. Many
non-traditional students have families and full-time jobs while completing
their degrees.But then I found
myself spending less and less time on my dissertation. I had to make lesson
plans, unit plans, help review textbook selections, attend staff meetings, hold
conferences with students, read and grade essays, and spend a lot of time in my
car driving from job to job. I kept to a schedule. But you know what doesn’t
keep to a schedule? Kids. I was responsible for raising two daughters, in
addition to my teaching load, and attending night classes.Somewhere along
the way, my five-year plan turned into a six-year plan, and then a seven-year
plan. At this point, I don’t even want to think about how long I’ve been
working on my dissertation.In March of
2008, the Ph.D. Completion Project published a report by Robert Sowell (click here to review his data) in which he revealed that of the
students who successfully completed their degrees: 57% of graduate students
took at least ten years to finish their doctorate; 49% of which were earning
their degree in the humanities; and 47% of them were male. So, according to the
data, the odds are in my favor. On the other hand, the data for the attrition
rates was rather disheartening: 31% of students dropped out after ten years;
32% of which were studying the humanities.
(If you are interested in reading about the reasons behind doctoral student attrition, check out the following article by Melonie Fullick: “War of Attrition – Asking Why PhD
Students Leave”).Reviewing this
data made me wonder: What is the key ingredient that makes all the difference
between failure and success for doctoral students?Thus far,
research indicates only one thing: support. Support from your professors;
support from your classmates; support from your writing group; support from
your committee chair; and support from your department. I would add: support
from your boss (if you are employed while working on your graduate degree);
support from your partner/spouse; and support from your family. Graduate
students – especially, non-traditional graduate students – need support.If you’re
reading this entry, ask yourself: Are you receiving the support you need in
order to successfully complete your graduate degree? If not, from whom do you
need this support? How can you go about getting this support?If you have any
comments or feedback about being a non-traditional student or how to get the
right kind of support, please feel free to share your thoughts on our blog or
our office Facebook page.Also, please
know that you will find support at the Thesis & Dissertation Office.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Diane von Furstenberg, creator of the wrap dress,
recently wrote of her semi-retirement and subsequent career. She says that after
some time off, she knew she needed to return to fashion. But she was scared, having
been absent awhile. Her fears were that “the fashion world would not take [her]
seriously, or that a second attempt would fall flat [making her] early success
seem like a happy coincidence” (Chicago
Tribune, Business page 5, March 1, 2015). This, from the woman on the cover
of Newsweek in 1976!

Furstenberg’s fears correspond with those of the Imposter
Syndrome (IS), something that up to 70% of us experience at least once in a
lifetime (Warrell,
Forbes). IS entails having negative
thoughts, particularly that others will “find out” how inadequate we really are,
even as we accomplish much. Historically, the syndrome has affected more women
than men, but now, nearly as many men are affected.

This condition often afflicts college students. Carolyn
Law, NIU’s Thesis Advisor, felt such fears herself while attending graduate
school. She looked for a book on the subject but could not find one. So she
created one called This Fine Place So Far
From Home: Voices of Academics from the Working Class (Temple UP, 1995). Many
who undergo IS are first-generation college students, but the syndrome can
affect anyone.

I, too, have faced IS. When I began my English graduate
studies, I offered to help a colleague move. Another graduate student, in
process of writing his dissertation, also helped. When I asked him about his
work, he replied: “[Insert esoteric language here] … Emerson.” My immediate
thought was, “Emerson? Of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer? (the band) Boy, I don’t
belong here.” That was the beginning of my experience of IS, and for those who feel
or have ever felt likewise, we have found some tips.

First, let’s remember that this condition only happens
to effective people. Caltech’s
counseling center says that the “syndrome is associated with highly achieving,
highly successful people.” Kyle Eschenroeder, in a blog on this topic, points
out that many “famous people” have suffered similar thoughts, and he lists 21 steps to
overcoming this syndrome. But some of us may be in danger of having these
thoughts inhibit our degree completion, so let’s think through this condition
further.

Caltech
tells readers to question such negative “automatic thoughts” and come up with a
more balanced assessment of abilities. Warrelladvises us to “reset” the bar to a more realistic level. She cautions people
not to be so highly driven as to be “forever striving [and] feeling inadequate,”
saying not everyone is the “Einstein” of his or her field.

These are good tips for those of us writing a thesis
or dissertation. We don’t have to author THE BEST study that ever existed. And
we are competent scholars, so we can do this! Remember that others are or have
been in the same position, and contact our office anytime for help. If anyone
has ideas to offer, please feel free to comment below!